1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to an LCD that may control texture by applying a low control voltage to a control electrode and a method of fabricating the LCD.
2. Discussion of the Background
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are one of the most widely used types of flat panel displays (FPDs). An LCD includes two substrates, on which electrodes are formed, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. The alignment of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer may be changed by applying voltages to the electrodes, thereby allowing the amount of light transmitted to be controlled. In this way, the LCD displays a desired image.
Recently, the contrast ratio has become a very important characteristic of an LCD. Accordingly, methods of enhancing this characteristic are actively being developed. In particular, patterned vertical alignment (PVA) mode LCDs are superior to in-plane switching (IPS) mode LCDs in terms of contrast ratio and processing stability. However, unlike an IPS mode LCD or a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode LCD, a PVA mode LCD controls texture by patterning common electrodes on a common electrode display panel, which is generally an upper panel. Therefore, the aperture ratio may be reduced if the common electrode display panel and a thin film transistor display panel are not aligned properly. In addition, the number of processes required to manufacture the LCD increases.
For this reason, studies are actively being conducted to find a way of controlling texture without patterning the common electrodes. In particular, a method of controlling texture using additional director control electrodes (DCEs) has been developed. However, this method requires a high control voltage to control texture since the DCEs are disposed under pixel electrodes, and the high control voltage causes leakage of light. Therefore, a structure, in which texture can be controlled while light leakage is prevented, is desirable.